A permanent solution to our seasonal problem

By Julian Wood

In February this year, Maxim Institute called for a shift away from New Zealand’s over-reliance on temporary workers towards investing…

Book Club 4 | Small is Beautiful

In the course of the last generation, mantras of excess have driven our culture of consumption. Bigger is better, greed…

Julian Wood on the economy, employment and election promises

Last month we released senior researcher Julian Wood’s latest research paper on Active Labour Market Policies, looking at the ways…

Creativity needed to support new jobs

By Julian Wood

In the economic battle against COVID-19, there was hope we might all “be home for Christmas;” a hope that wage…

Asking the big questions on Social Insurance

By Julian Wood

Back in May the Government signalled its interest in exploring new forms of unemployment insurance saying: “we have an opportunity…

Back To Work – Paper Release

We’ve recently released Julian Wood’s paper Back To Work, at the release we have had coverage over various media outlets….

Policy Paper | Back to Work

By Julian Wood

Nations around the world are expecting low or negative growth and higher unemployment rates as a result of fighting COVID-19….

Investing in a resilient workforce

By Julian Wood

When the Government closed New Zealand’s borders in response to COVID-19, flaws in our labour market were exposed. Not only…

Government should save jobs by “plugging gaps” in council budgets

By Julian Wood

Auckland Council is forecasting a $525 million dollar hole in its budget as a result of COVID-19. It’s not alone….

COVID-19 economic analysis – 20.05.2020

By Julian Wood

The following is an overview and commentary on economic information available from Treasury, the Reserve Bank, and the Government’s 2020/21…

Invest in people alongside new infrastructure

By Julian Wood

The euphoria we are all feeling after entering Level 2 will be tempered by the pain of pay cuts and…

COVID-19 economic analysis – 22.04.2020

By Julian Wood

Analysis of Treasury’s scenario forecasts (released 13 April) and weekly economic commentary (released 17 April), by Senior Researcher Julian Wood…

But now, who pays?

By Julian Wood

On Tuesday last week, the New Zealand Treasury outlined five economic scenarios that aimed to depict how the economy may…

Charities to be squeezed on both sides

By Julian Wood

In an unprecedented move, last week the Government announced a $12.1 billion package to combat the economic impact of Covid-19….

Migration Policy Paper: A Welcome That Works

By Julian Wood

Over the last 30 years, New Zealand has become over reliant on temporary work migration as a way to solve…

A welcome that works

By Julian Wood

In the 90’s the regions cried out for workers to pick fruit, plant trees and generally do a range of…

Good migration policy is about more than just jobs

By Julian Wood

Recent political posturing over partnership visas and arranged marriages is a troubling distraction that derails the real, necessary debates we…

Review our reliance on temporary workers

By Julian Wood

New Zealanders are heavy users of temporary work migration, so it was disappointing that no-one seriously discussed this last week…

Checking our climate blind spots

By Julian Wood

When it comes to emissions it is easy for us to obsess about factories and farmers as if these activities…

Preparing for economic downturn

By Julian Wood

There’s been a lot of recent chat about a possible economic downturn, and many seem to be living under the…